South West mum blog

My husband and I have a giggle sometimes about ways not to behave in certain situations (especially good to do at stressful times when we need a bit of light relief). So, what we should never do when staying with the in-laws, at a work meeting or at a dinner party. I only hope I won’t have a moment of madness and behave like that one day.

Something we were amusing ourselves with the other day is the thought of us behaving like our children when they go for playdates when we went to see our friends. If we did, we’d be:

Hiding behind each other when we went in, avoiding eye contact and giving monosyllabic answers to questions.

Shyly following my friends into the kitchen, asking for a drink in a small voice and drinking it quietly in the corner.

Within ten minutes, bouncing around jumping on their sofas, pulling out everything I could play with.

Going to the toilet with the door wide open and forgetting to flush.

Raiding their wardrobe, dressing up in their clothes, putting strange, mis-matched outfits together using old swimming costumes and summer sandals.

Pulling all their pens out and drawing lots of family portraits, leaving pens lidless.

And sobbing and being generally inconsolable when it was time to go – even if they promise to invite me again soon.

I aspire to be an outdoor parent. I love the garden, country walks, parks, sandy beaches. And we’ve had some lovely times exploring a range of beautiful, child-friendly places near Bath. But recently I’ve found that with the grey weather and windy days it takes much more to persuade everyone to muffle up and go outside. With all the new games, books and treats Christmas probably hasn’t helped.

Last weekend I tried a different tack and pursuaded everyone to play in the garden with the promise of some giant bubbles – the biggest they’d ever seen. They could chase them, pop them and even have a go at blowing enormous ones themselves. And it worked!

Even on a cold afternoon we had some brilliant fun with a kit from Really Big Bubbles. In our pack there were two bubble blowers which had sturdy wooden handles with rubber, and rope to make the bubbles, one smaller than the other, and a big bucket of handmade bubble potion which was aqua in colour and smelt floral, and not at all like detergent.

The mixture had arrived the week before, fully wrapped in plastic bubbles of it own so there was no danger of it spilling, and the box which held everything was big and suitably exciting, which is always a bonus.

We found that the wands were easy for D to handle at two and three quarters, and foolproof enough that he quickly managed to blow some big bubbles. So, no toddler frustration. Their favourite bit, though, was me manning the wands and them chasing bubbles all over the garden as they swirled and whirled and dispersed into many more.

D even got his water pistol out to shoot them, to much delight. Although the bubbles are pretty robust and don’t pop easily! And they really are big! It’s not hard to blow some enormous, sausage shaped ones which look majestic as they loop through the air.

We were outside for a good thirty or forty minutes which meant a lot of fresh air, lots of smiles and, because they were running around, no one was cold. We even saved some for Scrip’s friend when he came for a sleepover. They’d make a good party activity and the company even do wedding kits.

Even better, they come from Cornwall so I’m sure they’re handmade with love. We’ll be ordering some more.

Thanks to Really Big Bubbles for sending us a large bubble set (with two wands) to review. Bubbles start at £6.50 and the standard set starts at £20.

It’s Christmas Eve-Eve and in between picking up toys, pine needles and toys covered in pine needles I’ve been trying to think about what 2017’s brought. Not just the big milestones like toddler potty training (tick) or first school project completed and in on time (tick) but the smaller parenting wins, which are just as satisfying. Here are my picks of 2017:

We got through an entire year with a tub of Play Doh remaining unopened and so unmixed. Even better, it’s the white one.

We can get through two hair washes weekly without any tears (most of the time).

Both children can now get around on four wheels, one with a little bit of help from me but the end of the pushchair’s in sight.

D is still a napper and there’s no sign of that wonderous hour or so being dropped.

I spent last Tuesday night building a Quadrilla Space City Marble Run from Hape, as part of my build up to another slow Christmas. Actually, it wasn’t hard, even after a long day and I enjoyed it, although it did require some concentration. The marble run is built up from various colour-coded blocks and wooden tracks, unlike the more common plastic ones which come with long, ready-angled pieces to click together. But the creation process is part of the beauty of slow toys.

The box is suitably large and exciting and it’s all beautifully packaged when you lift the lid. It won’t be for long! However, there’s definitely enough space for all the parts to go back in quickly and easily when it’s time to tidy up.

Designed to glow in the dark, there are special luminous marbles and glow stickers to put on the blocks so you can have some extra fun. If the stickers walk off elsewhere, as they’re likely to in our house, you can still enjoy it as there are numerous ways to build different runs. There’s a booklet that comes with it that shows each build stage-by-stage, with the area built up greyed out each time.

As with all Hape toys there are sturdy, sustainable wooden parts and I think D, now 2.5 and Scrip, now 5.5, will both enjoy playing with this, albeit D probably won’t have the precision to build the tallest towers or follow all the diagrams and the grown ups might be getting involved (which is no hardship). The space station top also glows in the dark and that’s one of the few plastic parts, but it’s not an essential bit.

There are a few fiddly bits needed to keep the marbles running smoothly and not dropping out the back, and it might take a bit of adjusting to make sure everything runs well (or maybe that’s just me!) but you soon get the hang of it. And I think this will be great as part of my desire to get Scrip more involved in STEM toys.

And the moment of truth? It took me about 10 minutes to build my run and then drop a series of marbles down to helter skelter their way through down in different directions, as the special blocks send them a range of ways, before falling into the collecting tray with a satisfying plop.

This is surely one the kids will love and I can’t wait to pop it under the tree for Christmas. The only problem is it’s a joint present, so let’s hope they share nicely.

Thanks to Hape for sending me a sample to review for the blog. The Space City Marble Run costs £84.99 RRP.

My sister gave me a brilliant birthday present this year – a foraging course in Cornwall with Rachel Lambert from Wild Food Foraging. I took it a week ago when I foraged with Rachel and ten or so others in authentic Cornish weather.

The course was hedgerow, woodland and coastal and it was all the way down towards Lands End in a beautiful area that I don’t know as it’s an hour away from where I grew up. But it was stunning with a walk along the coastal path, through fields, woods and along a small, secluded beach foraging for black mustard and sea spinach, which was delicious.

I knew some of the nine or ten plants that we foraged (wild garlic, or three cornered leek, for instance) but some I didn’t know at all and some I knew but I had no idea you could eat – daisies, gorse flowers and hawthorn berries, for example. Rachel showed us how to identify them by ticking off all of each of their characteristics as we studied each plant, and then we tried each one. I also took some home for everyone to taste. Rachel was on hand to make sure we picked the right plants and also gave us pointers about those to be careful of and to avoid.

We also enjoyed some ‘tasters’ along the way, which were biscuits and fruit leather which Rachel had made ahead, and which were delicious. I bought her book which has some common plants, lots of photos and a recipe for each one.

The course was a three mile circular walk which was three hours long, and I loved every minute. It was really engaging and Rachel was particularly good with the two children who came along who were older than mine but still primary school age. They seemed to really enjoy it, too, and tried everything.

If you book something like this but are put off by the weather on the day, don’t be. It was definitely worth it. Just wrap up warm and turn up. And Rachel’s starting a forage and cook course – three ways with one foraged ingredient – next year.

That was the Saturday and I went on my own. On the Sunday we had a lovely family amble all together down to the wild Cornish seas. D walked the whole way and they loved splashing about, picking up leaves and dipping the net in the streams. Then it was birthday cake for my mum before we drove back with kids in PJs. A perfect weekend.

So, our building work is pretty much complete (hooray!) and I’m rather excited about our new wall of white shelves, in particular. They’re currently a work in progress (see below) but I’m hoping to make them and their displays as Instagram-worthy and Pin-worthy as possible.

I’d mentally allocated about three shelves to the children in the corner near their little table (which they seem to be rapidly out-growing). Realistically, this allocation has now more than doubled and obviously all the shelves within reaching height are actually fair game for them, so the precious things are slowly moving further and further up.

It does mean that while some of the toys are in baskets, some of them are also on display, so I have to say I am keeping an eye out for aesthetically pleasing ones which don’t make me shudder. I’m planning another slow Christmas and wooden and handmade toys seem to be the most beautiful. Amongst those which are very displayable is this lovely cat puzzle from Hape.

I’ve featured Hape in the past and even applied to be an Ambassador, as I like their ethical approach and beautifully crafted toys. This puzzle is no exception with colourful cats which all tone in well. It’s a 3D jigsaw which doesn’t have lots of pieces but does need mastering as there are three layers. A good challenge for D who’s now 2.5 years old.

And better still, it has pride of place on the shelves. I also thought it was good value for a gift or, dare I say, stocking filler… at just £8. Off to rearrange those shelves.

Thanks to Hape for sending me the puzzle which is available from Debenhams.

It’s #BabyLossAwarenessWeek which culminates in a wave of light on 15th October to mark all the lives lost far too early.

I’ve been working with the incredible Caz Taylor from present concierge service Taylor’d Bundles for a few months and baby loss is a subject particularly close to her heart. In fact, it was a present she received as she was going through her darkest days that was the inspiration for her to start her own business.

It’s 8.14pm. I’m lying on the bed gently overheating in my new furry slippers, laptop optimistically open and my work emails up but I’m actually starting to daydream because I’m tired. A day in London does that now – packing in five meetings, a snatched lunch and a rush to and from the station. But I enjoy it, punctuating my month with a slice of the capital.

Now late September, school is officially underway and half term discos, books at bedtime and Trick or Treating are already hovering on the horizon. I’m not quite sure where the last few weeks have gone but they’ve hopped, skipped and jumped past me, leaving behind only vague memories of Facebooked school uniform photos and the name tag ironing frenzy.

My work emails are still open (it’s 8.22pm now) and instead of following up with my meeting notes I’m thinking about inventions that would help improve my life. Here are a few that spring to mind:

Non-colour-mixing playdoh – no more inevitable green, sludgy mess – playdoh yellow is always bright and fresh and the special edition pink sparkle version stays forever pink and sparkly

A wearable hair dryer – so I can wander around upstairs hands-free in the morning supervising the children as they hide and refuse to get dressed

The school uniform folder-upper and hanger-upper (because Scrip clearly doesn’t understand the concept) which doubles as a clean clothes sorter and distributor (there’s a theme here)

Never-ending cereal – to avoid the endless squabbles over the last three Shreddies

The shoe auto-organiser (why is there always one child’s shoe missing?)

It’s 8.32pm and I think my curfew might be 9pm tonight. I’ll be dreaming of hairdryers, cereal and playdoh.

D’s been talking about visiting ‘Tractor Ted land’ since we went to the last Tractor Ted Live (Big Machines) at Bowood earlier in the year. His wish came true last Sunday when we went along to Diggers and Dumpers Weekend.

For the uninitiated, Tractor Ted is an animated green Tractor but the real stars of his show are actual farm machines like combines, diggers and dumpers which are filmed going about their daily tasks with child-friendly commentary. There are DVDs ,which have D in thrall every time, and also books, clothes and toys and D and many, many other small children – some of whom we saw wide-eyed at Bowood – love them all.

We first heard about Tractor Ted at a parent bloggers’ event Talk to Mums Family Playtime in London and the DVDs we received then have been nectar for D. So, to live so close to Bowood and be able to go along to see digger dancing, ride on mini plastic replicas, sit in a massive machine, run a children’s Grand National and bounce on a Tractor Ted bouncy castle was his favourite kind of day out.

It was a packed programme with lots going on in the main arena and plenty around the outside, too, all accompanied by the very catchy Tractor Ted tunes. Although D is the super fan, both children enjoyed the activities and neither wanted to go at the end of the day. Plus it was decent weather so we had a picnic in beautiful Bowood and the children had a good run around. Here are some of our highlights in pictures.

Thank you to Tractor Ted for a set of tickets (and one very happy toddler).

Even the pack looks exciting and a world away from the drab 80s circuit boards I was taught electronics on in secondary school. I love the idea of getting Scrip involved in STEM activities and this Electro Dough Kit, which lets you make conductive dough, learn how electricity works and play with lights, buzzers and switches, is perfect for her age group.

It’s one of the many kits on offer from Technology Will Save Us who contacted me about other products and then offered this to review. I leapt at the chance. Scrip loves sitting down for activities at the moment, which is brilliant, and I want to make her learning as rounded as possible. Whilst I know we’ve shared our love of books and being creative, I’m not sure I have instilled the same passion for science, which is a shame.

When I opened the instructions and I saw the classic circuit line drawings, light emitting diodes and all, those science classes came flooding back. Anyone else remember pinching people with crocodile clips and attaching them to each other’s school jumpers? There were some of those inside too.

But after a bit of trial and error we were both smiling when she first made a little LED light up and the kit very quickly brought everything to life in a way she could engage with. We started by making the conductive dough together, which is straightforward (with lots of salt to help the conduction) but needs some heating on the stove. Make sure you wait for it to cool down before handling as she was keen to add the food dye in straight away but it was boiling hot for a while. The consistency was really good, though.

Then we started creating, using some inspiration from the pack but also from the website. Not having great science lesson recall, apart from the crocodile clips, I couldn’t answer all her questions straight away so it was useful for me to use some of the explanations from the pack. She quickly got the hang of the LEDs having to be positioned a certain way around and the wires going into the dough correctly, and we made a simple circuit and tested objects which conducted electricity and didn’t (you can also download a sheet to write these up). Then we moved on to using dough versions of our names, little creatures who kissed and turned lights on, making a buzzer go and then some ‘fireworks’.

She was keen to make a range of things and it was a morning’s worth of play. D started off with us then got more interested in putting his tractor in the flour. But then he did come back and sat for a long time building castles out of the dough and sticking jumper wires into the sides. So it was nice to have him with us too, although they recommend age four and up for this kit which I think is right.

There’s a whole range of kits for four to nine year olds, including machines and solar-powered creations, gifts for 10 – 14 year olds, Micro:Bit kits and other gift ideas. So there’s lots of choice. They’re not cheap (starting at £22.99) but they’re well made with lots of electronic parts so worth the investment I’d say. Particularly if it makes them excited about STEM subjects. I hope they carry on with things like this in the classroom – there’s no reason to wait until they’re teenagers.

And while we’re on the subject of school, I’ve started thinking about PE kits and jumpers now Scrip’s going into Year One in a couple of weeks. A quick mention for a new find – my iron-on labels from My Nametags which I love because:

The kids got involved with choosing from a range of backgrounds, designs and colours for their labels with simple click boxes online

Being iron on, they’re dead simple to use and even go on things like a tennis racket cover

The labels have stayed put so far and seem robust even when washed

Scrip loves them so much that I’ve even stuck them on plastics with some sellotape over the top (you can get stickers too if you like a simpler life!)

Thanks to Technology Will Save Us for our Electro Dough Kit (worth £22.99) and My Nametags for our iron on labels (£12.95 including P&P).